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Help: British Isles mosquitoes?
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Subject: British Isles mosquitoes? From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 05 Nov 01 - 11:13 PM The DH (dear husband) and I were debating whether, if we ever inherited a castle, we would get rid of the moat. Aside from a damp basement, does a moat harbor mosquitoes? Are there mosquitoes in the British Isles? We couldn't recall encountering any, but such good fortune seems improbable. Maybe the bagpipes drive them insane. |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: katlaughing Date: 06 Nov 01 - 12:12 AM I think they call them "mossies." |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: Gary T Date: 06 Nov 01 - 12:57 AM Ah, but if you cover the moat with oil--which you always have on hand to boil and pour over invaders--the mosquito larva can't live there. |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: Gary T Date: 06 Nov 01 - 12:59 AM Larvae, that is. |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: Jimmy C Date: 06 Nov 01 - 01:05 AM There are millions of little flying insects around Lough Neagh, they call them midgies. They are not as large as mosquitoes but just as annoying. Driving from Belfast to Ballinderry you will encounter swarms of these little pests. I do not know the official name for them. They are also found in Scotland. I am not sure about England and Wales but I am sure they are there also. |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: Metchosin Date: 06 Nov 01 - 01:13 AM I don't know if you have mosquitoes in the British Isles, but as annoying as Chironomids (midges) might seem to be, your trout would be awfully damned hungry without them. |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: GUEST,katlaughing Date: 06 Nov 01 - 02:35 AM You could also be sure to have bats in your belfry as they will eat the little buggers all up:-) There's are lovely old ruins of one HERE if you didn't want to wait to inherit!**BG** |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: catspaw49 Date: 06 Nov 01 - 02:36 AM Oh yeah, the Brits did have Mosquitos.......faster than hell and packed a good size bombload and particularly tough, especially since they were made of plywood........some had a serious engine problem though......I don't think there are too many left so I wouldn't worry too much. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: catspaw49 Date: 06 Nov 01 - 02:47 AM Oh yeah....the thing had a sting alright..... Or are you talkin' about the bug? Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: Jon Freeman Date: 06 Nov 01 - 02:49 AM Jimmy, I can assure you midges exist in Wales although rumour has it the Scottish ones are the worst... leenia, these little flies hunt in swarms of millions and once they home in on you, there is no escaping the millions of bites - you splat a few hundred but they still keeep comming. One bite is not specially painful but they never stop - they drive you nuts more than anything else. Jon |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: GUEST Date: 06 Nov 01 - 02:49 AM yes we do have them but not (usually) the kind that spread malaria. |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: GUEST,Stavanger Bill Date: 06 Nov 01 - 03:16 AM I believe they have, or used to have, a problem with mosquitoes on Hayling Island. The local council used to have to spray ditches, ponds and marsh areas. |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: GUEST,Boab Date: 06 Nov 01 - 04:01 AM I used to gi'e a pint of blood fishin' by the loch shore every bliddy night! |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: Dave the Gnome Date: 06 Nov 01 - 04:16 AM Dunno what the buggers were but they bit me to bits climbing Ben Nevis a couple of years ago. It was great once we got past 2000' and they disappeared. Having an on-board repelant is the only thing I miss about smoking - especialy the pipe. Black twist used to keep 'em at bay no trouble. In answer to the question though - I concur. 'mossies' or midges are what we get all over the British Isles - but they are definitely worse in Scotland. Cheers DtG |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: Nemesis Date: 06 Nov 01 - 04:24 AM Mosquitos - yes, we have ruddy things. I am especially attuned to their particular whine, having had resistant Malaria. So, after visiting during the "dry months" in Africa where I used to live and nothing(!) - I was incensed to fall into bed after a 12 hour flight and within 5 minutes to hear one whining around the bedroom. The landlord of a pub near Gatwick ended up with cerebral malaria - the only explananation seemed to be that a crew member had been in with one on their clothing. There has been malaria in the UK - the Romney Marshes were notorious for the marsh 'miasma' that caused Marsh fevers. I think the last UK outbreak was in Essex in about 1908. The malaria carrying mozzie is the Anopheles type - with Global warming there is all likelihood that we will see malaria in the UK. Keep your rainbutts covered and trout into your moat!! |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: GUEST,Stavanger Bill Date: 06 Nov 01 - 04:24 AM Hi Dave, Similar experience but connected with fishing. I started smoking a pipe to keep the little beggars off - cigarettes were no good as you needed both hands free for casting!! |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: bill\sables Date: 06 Nov 01 - 05:30 AM When I was due to work in The Seychelles in 86 for 7 weeks we were told to carry insect repelent. I mentioned this to a friend who had just returned from Naru in the South Pacific and she reccomended I take "Vitimin B Complex" pills (2 each day) They cost about 99p for 100 pills at any chemist. I think they cause your sweat to turn sour and so not be attractive to insects. We were filming in the jungle where the insects are the size of birds, all of the crew spraying themselves with various sprays but I just had the vitimins. I was the only one who came out without a bite. My wife, Lorna, now runs a paintball site near York and this summer they were plagued with mozzies so she started using the vitimins and had no trouble. She passed the info on to the marshals on the site and some of them also found that they become immune to attack but not all of them. Bill |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: shankmac Date: 06 Nov 01 - 05:37 AM There are moquitoes (mossies) in Britain and they are on the increase. Probably due to global warming. But the main problem in Scotland is the midge. Similar to the black fly in Canada. It hatches from damp or wet, tree covered areas around the end of May and is in abundace till the beginning of September. They do not like windy conditions and you can outrun them but if you stand still they swarm round you. The bite does not hurt. It is like a very small burning sensation and is itchy for a while then goes away for twenty four hours but then the itching comes back with a vengence. There is very little defence against them and most outdoor worker in the forestry industry etc. have to wear very fine mesh hoods a bit like bee keepers to work outside when the midges are at their worst which is just at sunrise and sunset because they dont like strong sunlight and dry conditions. The moat sounds ideal for breeding midges GOOD LUCK!!! |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: Ella who is Sooze Date: 06 Nov 01 - 06:23 AM yup, we have em alright. In various levels of viciousness. In the countryside around Cambridge, I did a small festival - performed there, and had to camp! Well I woke up with 3 of the biggest Mozzies you've ever seen. Bright brown, angry looking devils. Here in Wales, ours are darkbrown, and a bit more choosy. In Scotland the countryside can be Rampant with them, particular on some of the small islands. They have midgies, small little angry buzzy things that if you don't move fast enough form in your very own little cloud around you. It just depends on whether they like the taste of you. In Wales I'm pretty much left alone, but in Cambridge I was left hopping around tearing at my skin like someone with a nasty disease. So, fill that moat up with about 40 tonne of Jungle Formula. Or you WILL be pestered by the dive bombing buzzes and high pitched drones of the mozzies which are surprisingly loud when you are trying to get to sleep.. E... BAN THE MOZZIE I SAY! |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: mooman Date: 06 Nov 01 - 06:39 AM Having visited Canada several times I can say that, at least as far as I am concerned, there is no comparison between the blackfly, mossies and midges (or gnats). I am highly allergic to blackfly and mosquito bites but 15 or 20 Canadian blackfly bites makes me look as if I have bubonic plague and the wretched pustulating sores won't clear up for 2-3 weeks. Mossie bites just give me a big red itchy lump for a couple of weeks. Midges are not quite as bad for me but, as Jon correctly notes above, they attack in their millions so the annoyance factor is huge! This is all a pity since Canada is my favourite country! I still go there (especially Cape Breton) but won't venture out into the country without at least a double coating of lumberjack-grade repellant! Itchingly yours mooman |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: Scabby Douglas Date: 06 Nov 01 - 07:29 AM Damn and blast the lot of you! Do you realise that for many decades now, the whole Scottish midges thing has been deliberately kept a closely guarded secret? It's only once people get here that we start dishing out (i.e. selling) the industrial-grade insect repellant ( that doesn't work, anyway!) , burning candle thingies for your tent (that don't work either!), the Huuuge hats with the built-in chainmail mesh - that restrict your vision and make you sweat like a bugger... All these people get here, from all over the world... and they arrive and say - "what the f*** are all these flying biting things?" and we say - "oh--- that'll be the midges.."
My family and I went camping round Scotland last year at he start of July.. we did fine and (virtually) midgieless in: Ullapool, also in Gairloch.... And The thing I couldn't work out was: in the middle of nooowhere - on SKye - no farms - no cattle - no sheep - trees. grass.. I'd get out of the car and be instantly encased in a living swarming extra skin of midges... Is it Sam Gamgee who asks "What do they eat when they can't get hobbit?" - why were these midges there? Were they just waiting for me? I think they have access to teleportation technology. As in Star Trek, they can instantly be beamed to wherever exposed flesh has been sensed. wee bastards. Cheers Steven |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: PeteBoom Date: 06 Nov 01 - 09:01 AM SPAW! I KNEW I should have gotten to this thread before this! Leenia - forget the wee mossies - the de Haviland is the only one to really look out for. Pete |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: GUEST,GUEST who should be working Date: 06 Nov 01 - 09:46 AM But if the mossies and midges are such a problem - and I've no doubt they are - why do I never see window screens when I'm in the UK? I've always wondered about that. |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: Ella who is Sooze Date: 06 Nov 01 - 10:03 AM Because we like to suffer... We can't be bothered... It's a favourite family past-time - chase the mozzie with the rolled up newspaper before bed time.. And erm.... we just put up with it, it's a bit like queueing for hours, and not complaining so much... Hell I don't know, seems a pretty good idea to me |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: shankmac Date: 06 Nov 01 - 10:31 AM Midges don't generally come inside during daylight hours and are only attracted by light bulbs at night. We dont have to leave windows open at night as it does not get too hot so it is just easier t close doors and windows to keep the midges out. |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: Ella who is Sooze Date: 06 Nov 01 - 10:35 AM that's not so Shankmac... them buggers can smell a daecent meal at twenty paces... doesn't get too hot... yuh huh right! :) |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: Grab Date: 06 Nov 01 - 01:45 PM Mossies aren't very common in Britain, but midges are. Scottish midges are infamous for their quantity and persistence. The best advice is to visit Scotland in May/June when the midge population is only just waking up - peak time is August. The other biting insect in Britain is the horsefly, which is a bluebottle-sized fly. One of these bites you, it hurts and you get a big painful lump. It does depend on whether you live in town or not, though. Where we are now in Cambridge, we get very few insects. We used to live in a small village which was basically just houses either side of a road for half a mile, and fields behind each one, and the ceiling in the hallway was often black with insects of all descriptions - I've never seen anything like it. We had to be careful never to turn the light on in the bedroom, as the light in the hallway kept them all in there away from us! :-) The best thing for tents and rooms is the mosquito coil - a coil of green cardboard-y stuff which kills insects, so that at least will give you a chance of waking up with no more bites than when you went to sleep. All spray-on and roll-on stuff is more optimism than practicality. I did once get a chance to use some Army-issue spray, and I found that a combination of that and a large amount of sweat stopped them biting - trouble was, the reason was that the sweat and spray formed a sticky liquid on your skin, so the insects landed, drowned, died and then stuck to you. So you didn't get bitten, but you ended up with a nice layer of dead midges all over! A guy I met out walking once swore by a drop of vinegar on the back of your neck. Can't say I've ever tried it - anyone know about this bit of folklore? Strangely, I found when I went to the States that all my allergies vanished. I usually get hayfever in the summer, and come up in big lumps from midge bites. But the hayfever stopped the moment I got off the plane, and the few mossies that did bite me didn't raise more than a nettle-sting. Very odd. I didn't care to experiment to see if bears and snakes were similarly unattracted to me, though. ;-) Graham.
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: weepiper Date: 06 Nov 01 - 04:00 PM Yep, midgies are rotten wee swine, and yes, Scabby Doug, Skye does sem to be the worst (camping in early September for four days...itchy bleeding bites for 3 weeks) But clegs (horseflies) are much worse. I haven't been bothered by them since moving to Edinburgh but when I was a kid in the country I used to get bitten often. They leave a bite that swells to the size of a 10p piece (on me anyway) I seem to be one of these unlucky ones that tastes nice to wee biting beasties |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: Gareth Date: 06 Nov 01 - 06:45 PM Little known fact. The Anophelese (sic) Mosquito was/is indignous to the flats/slob lands on the Kent and Essex shores of the London River - Hayling Island, and the inlets between Pompey (Portsmouth) and Chichester are very similar. Ditto the Kent Swale and the North Kent Marshes. To the turn of the centuary Malaria was known in those areas. The Romney Marshes (miles and miles of Sheep), again very similar. As an ex Resident of Whitstable Kent, and one who still sails on the Medway and London River > I can confirm that you can still be bitten ocasionally. But its no major problem. Damn it, 5 or more pints of Shepherd Neame bitter, and you don't notice the bites !! BTW The Medway, Swale and Estuary is where both Drake (El Draco), and Nelson learnt thier basic seamanship in small boats. Obviously the mossies did not put then off !!! Gareth |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: Nemesis Date: 06 Nov 01 - 07:14 PM Vitamin pills!!! Actually, we discovered this in Africa - brewers yeast tablets (which is B6 - I think) are the ones you want - or drink lots of beer. We did set out to drink enough gin and tonics one night to get enough quinine into our system in case the beer didn't work but ran out of time after the 595th of the night. |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: sheila Date: 06 Nov 01 - 10:25 PM To Guest-who-should-be-working - I know of at least ONE house in the Highlands of Scotland which has screens - mine! And not those wimpy screens, with the large mesh, that you see in places like New Jersey - I made mine from the netting used in tents, which is designed to keep out even the notorious 'no-se-ums'. My uncle and one of my cousins will be putting screens on their windows for next spring and summer (I provided the netting). |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: alison Date: 06 Nov 01 - 11:28 PM I remember Skye!!!.... It was so bad I was surrounded by a cloud of them (West Highland Midgies)...... even when I retreated into the car I was still surrounded.... hateful wee buggers.......... slainte alison |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: wildlone Date: 07 Nov 01 - 03:28 PM During the last war in the summer of "45" when my mother was stationed at Aqualate park in Shropshire all standing water was sprated to get rid of any mosquitoes due to to dangers of malaria being brought into the country by returning servicemen. dave,whom the Scottish midges leave alone. |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: GUEST,Who is STILL not working a day later (no bos Date: 07 Nov 01 - 04:18 PM Sheila, funny you should mention New Jersey. That's where I live! I'm not bothered by no-see-ums coming in through the screens. Probably due to the birds, spiders, and bats in the garden. They even do a fairly good job on the mosquitos. Rubbing lemon balm leaves on your skin can help keep away mosquitos. Works for me. |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: Dead Horse Date: 08 Nov 01 - 02:38 PM As an aditional piece of info on the Kentish mossies mentioned by Gareth, the buggers seem to be on the increase, possibly due to global warming. Out on the marshes they're actually getting a lot bigger, too. Spraying is the favoured method of keeping the swines in check. Because of the recent "foot & mouth" restrictions in the countryside, shooting mossies lost favour, which is a good thing, really, as a wounded mossie can be very dangerous. |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: DougR Date: 08 Nov 01 - 10:07 PM I thought Mosquitoes in Great Britain were bombers! DougR |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: rangeroger Date: 09 Nov 01 - 01:05 AM One of the things to watch out for when spraying chemicals on the skin to drive away the insects, is that they can play havoc with the finish on an instrument. rr |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: GUEST,Ian Date: 09 Nov 01 - 03:45 AM I beleive that there are 12 different varieties of mosquitoes in the UK. In Asia some people recomenend mosquitoe coils to repel them. I found it hard enough to catch them let alone sex them to find the female and then fit a coil. |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: Ella who is Sooze Date: 09 Nov 01 - 04:27 AM chortle! |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: GUEST Date: 09 Nov 01 - 04:47 AM They are the provincial bird ofr Saskatchewan... We use heavy calibre anti aircraft guns; but as Dead Horse says a wounded mossy is a dangerous thing. When hunting a downed mossy i use a double barreled 600 Nitro express rifle. When asked why i use a 600 Nitro Express I say "cause they dont make a 700 lol ... |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: GUEST,Brian Date: 09 Nov 01 - 07:53 AM I came into this thread wondering why anybody would want to 'Help British Isles mosquitoes' :-) The little buggers are good enough at helping themselves, thanks! Oh yes' we have 'em. Brian |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: catspaw49 Date: 09 Nov 01 - 07:56 AM You aren't reading the entire thread are you Doug? Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: DougR Date: 09 Nov 01 - 11:56 AM Yes, Spaw I am. Just my attempt at a little humor on a slow day. DougR |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: catspaw49 Date: 09 Nov 01 - 12:11 PM LOL.........Are you sure Dougie? The reason I asked is that we had already made that bad joke way back up the thread!!! Or is this something like Art and I like to do.....rehash the same stuff over and over. A joke is a joke even if you tell it repeatedly. Spaw
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: MMario Date: 09 Nov 01 - 12:15 PM A joke is a joke if *YOU* (or Art) tells it repeatedly...if *I* tell it, it ain't normally a joke even the first time. *sigh* I appreciate jokes, can't tell 'em worth a d*mn |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: DougR Date: 09 Nov 01 - 01:08 PM Well Spaw, you force me to fess up. I only skimmed the threads before posting. **SOB!** I didn't think anyone would be old enough to remember those airplanes during WW2 but me! DougR |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: Gareth Date: 09 Nov 01 - 06:51 PM Don't worry - there are still a few flying Mossies - powered by both the Packard and the Rolls Royce Merlin. Great Air Craft - carried a bombload twice that of a B17, at 100 knots faster, and 10,000 feet higher. As the song goes :- " And we drop it from so high that we don't know were it goes " Gareth |
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Subject: RE: Help: British Isles mosquitoes? From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 09 Nov 01 - 09:28 PM Yes, there are mosquitoes. But generally they are healthy mosquitoes, and you don't get malaria from a mosquito who's healthy.
But they can still be after you for your blood, so it's best to make sure your tent hasn't got one inside when you shut it.
Grenerally though midges, and the dreaded horsefly, are more of a problem.
There's a good song in the DT about The Blackfly:
And the black flies, the little black flies |
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